This invention relates to dump bodies for use either on a straight truck or as a trailer and of a construction especially adapted to haul bulk material, such as asphalt, for direct delivery to further use such as to a low walled hopper on a road paving machine.
The usual dump body is closed by a top-hinged gate that butts against the rear edge of the body bottom and sidewalls. A long standing problem in the discharge of bulk material from the usual dump body is the inability to direct the load cleanly into a low walled receiving vessel. To solve this problem, some bodies are built with a relatively long overhang aft of the rear axle so that, upon dumping, the body may reach over a low wall. While this construction is effective as a delivery chute into a low walled vessel, it places a disproportionate part of the body weight and load weight back of the rear axle thus causing an unbalanced load. Another solution to the problem is to mount a "scow" at the rear of the body. A scow is simply a hinged extension connected to the rear of the body which is lowered as desired for use as a delivery chute.
A more recent proposal is a body extending beyond the rear axle and a gate located inside the body sidewalls forward of the rear edges. With this arrangement the body acts as a chute and the inside gate keeps the load in the desired distribution so it is balanced. However, the inside gate as previously proposed has not been too useful because on closing the inside gate is pinched between the body walls and jammed in the closed position. Also, in the previously proposed inside gate, a part of the latch and mechanism was located on the gate with the result that it was subject to damage by bumping and to fouling by the material being handled.